tis the season to be jolly no matter how you go about capturing the spirit of Christmas. Perhaps its listening to Christmas music. Maybe its walking out in the winter wonderland. Or mayhaps its watching Christmas themed movies or shows. As Ive gotten older Ive found it harder and harder to get into the holiday spirit. Watching Toradora injected me with jolliness and cheer so I wanted to keep the train going. Even if Tokyo Marble Chocolate isnt outstanding by any measure it was a cute little anime regardless. 420https://kimaguresan.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/tokyochoco31.jpg Tokyo Marble Chocolate tells the story of a young couple consisting of Yuudai and Chizuru. Both have been quite unlucky in the past when it comes to relationships. Yuudais negative trait is specifically being cowardly and mousy while Chizuru is afflicted with rotten luck. Their date is suddenly halted when Yuudai gives Chizuru a present. To both of their shock its a mischievous and adorable miniature donkey. The events surrounding this donkey brings the two lovers closer than before. Both episodes portray the same two days just with differing perspectives. The first episode is Chizurus perspective and the second is from Yuudais. Watching one wont spoil the other so the order you watch them doesnt matter. If you plan on rewatching the show it might be fun to switch up the order. First thing to note is that the art is absolutely gorgeous. Its so short that I have no problem telling you to watch it for the art alone. The backgrounds are simple yet elegant. They remind me of a painting. The character designs are also quite striking. Again theyre simple but thats what I find so charming about them. The dot eyes remind me of the characters from the Motherhttps://i0.wp.com/starmen.net/mother2/images/official/claychosenfour.png series. Its a small detail but I thought it was cool that the tips of characters fingers turned red in the cold. 720http://www.ricedigital.co.uk/wpcontent/uploads/2017/05/tokyomarblechocolatereview2.jpg The music is fine. The tracks that will most likely grab your attention are the two insert songs. Chizurus insert song is great for being an anime hip hop track and describing her inner turmoil perfectly. Yuudais is...fine I guess. The lyrics dont fit that well but at least it sounds nice. The story itself is good enough.A big part of a romance is development and with just short of an hour the anime simply doesnt have the time to pull that off. We dont really see why the two characters love each other. We dont really get much chemistry between the two. Still I cant fault the OVA too much. With only so much time to tell a story something had to be cut and the storys cute regardless. Part of this cuteness comes from the miniature donkey whose refreshingly noninvasive. He could have been quite obnoxious but hes just a cute little animal that lightens the mood. The producers really knew when to make him scarce and I appreciate it. The characters themselves are also adorable and I was rooting for them every step of the way. 420http://www.ricedigital.co.uk/wpcontent/uploads/2017/05/tokyomarblechocolatereview3.jpg Besides the art part of what makes this OVA so unique is its splitperspective storytelling that allows us to see the fullpicture of the couple. Its interesting to see the difference in their motivations at the beginning and then seeing them come together at the end. However in terms of character arc the OVA was a bit lopsided. We actually see Yuudai overcome his problem and that plays a part in the climax and resolution. Chizuru doesnt really change and as such the resolution can feel a bit unearned on her end. Its probably because has rotten luck isnt really a character flaw or at the very least not one someone can actively fix. Overall the anime most likely wont blow your socks off but its heartwarming regardless. You can skip it but I recommend it on the basis of it being adorable. It might not be the best anime youve ever seen but I promise that itll make you smile. So did Tokyo Marble Chocolate turn me into a Christmas fiend? Swinging around light poles as I sing carols? No but it did make me happy so it succeeds in my book. 7.3/10 C